Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/627

Rh CROCODILE 593 places the other. Three and even four generations of teeth, incased within each other, are often thus contained in a single socket, but the numbsr of teeth above the surface remains the same at all ages. The fourth tooth on each side of the lower jaw is larger than the others, and fits into a notch or pit in the upper surface. As in snakes, the lower jaw is attached to a process connected with and ex tending backwards from the skull, which greatly adds to the animal s gape, while giving it the appearance, in opening its mouth, of moving both jaws. Beneath the lower jaw are two orifices connected with glands which secrete a musky substance. Crocodiles are amphibious, leaving the water to bask in the sun on the mud-banks of rivers and marshes, or to devour the prey they have previously drowned. They are oviparous, depositing their eggs from twenty to sixty in number, and inclosed in a calcareous shell in holes made in the sand or mud of the river side, where they are left to ba hatched by the heat of the sun, or as is the case with certain American species, in hillocks formed by themselves, which they hollow out and fill with leaves and other decay ing vegetable matter, where the eggs aro hatched by the fieat generated in the decomposing mass. On quitting the egg the young crocodiles are led to the water by the female parent, who feeds them for some time with food which she herself disgorges, and otherwise shows the greatest solicitude for their safety. The male takes no part in rearing the young, but is said on the contrary to attack and devour them when not prevented by his mate. Large numbers also fall victims to the rapacity 01 fishes and turtles, while the smaller Carnivora and certain birds destroy great quan tities of the eggs. The eggs, which in the common croco dile are nearly as large as those of a goose, are in spite of their musky flavour held in great estimation as an article of food in the regions where they occur, and this leads to a .still further diminution of the crocodilian progeny. During the first year the young are said to feed on the larvze of insects and on small fishes. Crocodiles are inhabi tants of the rivers and marshy lagoons of tropical and sub tropical regions, a few only frequenting the brackish water of estuaries. One species the Alligator of North America has a range sufficiently north of the tropics to encounter ice in winter, while one of the Indian crocodiles ascends the courses of the rivers it frequents to such a height above the sea that the water it occupies is often frozen. During the dry season these reptiles bury themselves in the mud and remain dormant until the return of moister con ditions, and they have thus been known to exist without food for a whole year. Tennent states that in Ceylon he has met with the mud case from which the Marsh Crocodile of that island had recently withdrawn, and he also tells of an officer who, camping out one night, was disturbed by a strange motion of the earth beneath his bed a phenomenon explained in the morning by the emergence of a crocodile. They also bury themselves in the mud on the approach of danger, and when taken unawares they feign death as a means of escape. The writer above alluded to states that on one occasion his party came upon a sleeping crocodile, which on being struck, after it had awakened and seen itself surrounded, lay perfectly quiet and apparently dead ; in a little while it was seen to glance furtively about, and then make a rush towards the water. On receiving a second blow it again feigned death, and this time no amount of poking could elicit the slightest sign of life, until a lad by gently tickling it under the fore leg caused the reptile so far to forget itself as to draw up its limb. They resort to a somewhat similar stratagem in order the more readily to reach their prey. Lowering their head and tail they fillow tliemselves to be carried down by the current of the stream, and in this position are said to bear the closest resemblance to floating logs of wood a disguise well fitted to allay suspicion in the animal they are seeking to approach. They feed on fishes, and on the numerous quadrupeds which visit their haunts in order to drink. The latter they seize and drag into the water, holding them under the surface till life is extinct, and afterwards con veying the dead body to the nearest sand-bank or river island, where it is often hidden until putrefaction has rendered it sufficiently digestible. Although timid they do not hesitate to attack man when off his guard, and bathing in tropical rivers is rendered dangerous by their presence. There are three families of living crocodiles Gavials, True Crocodiles, and Alligators. The Gavials are readily distinguished by their greatly elongated and narrow snout, and by the uniform size of their teeth (the five or six front pairs excepted), of which the Gangetic species has fifty-two or fifty-four above, and fifty or fifty-two below. It inhabits the lower parts of Indian rivers, especially tho Ganges, where it performs the useful office of devouring the carcases of animals that otherwise would pollute tho sacred river. It attains a length of over 17 feet, and the male is furnished with a large and prominent swelling in front of the nostrils. The true Crocodiles have the so-called canine tooth of the lower jaw fitting into a notch or furrow in the upper surface ; the hind legs are bordered by a serrated fringe, and the toes are almost completely webbed. Of these there are twelve species, four of which are Asiatic, occurring eastward from the rivers and estuaries of India to Australia ; three are African, one ranging from Egypt to the Cape, the others confined to the rivers of West Africa ; while four belong to the Neotropical Region of Central and South America. The Common Crocodile (Crocodilus vulgaris) may be taken as typical of the family. It inhabits the chief rivers of Africa, but is best known as a denizen of the Nile, where in ancient times the Egyptians regarded it as a divinity. At Memphis and other cities temples were raised in its honour, in which live crocodiles were kept, these sacred reptiles being roared with the greatest care, fed luxuriously, and adorned vith costly trinkets. They were thus rendered perfectly tame, and took part in tho religious processions and other ceremonies performed in their honour. When dead their bodies were embalmed, and extensive grottoes have been discovered at Maabdeh containing large numbers of those reptilian mummies. Tl;o inhabitants of several Egyptian cities, however, regarded the crocodile with entirely opposite sentiments, considering it to be the incarnation of Typho, the genius of evil ; and among these the ichneumon, as the deadliest foe of the crocodile, was thought worthy of divine honours. Once a year the people of Apollinopolis had a solemn hunt, in which they killed as many crocodiles as possible, casting the dead bodies before the temple of their god ; and so expert had they grown in this sport that they did not hesitate to enter the Nile, and bring the crocodile ashore by force. Crocodiles appear to have been formerly abundant in all the known parts of the Nile, but have now disappeared from the delta, and according to a recent authority are rarely seen to the north of Beni Hassan, and are evidently receding from below the second cataract. This is largely owing to the constant persecution they are subjected to by the passengers on board the Nile steamers, to which also must be attributed their exceeding wildncss, for it is now almost impossible to come within rifle shot of them. A small black-headed plover (Charadrius melanoce- phalus) may often be seen perched on the reptile s back, attracted by the numerous insects which find a con genial residence there ; and this active little bird, by rising in the air and uttering a shrill cry, gives its bulky patron timely warning of the approach of man. Towards VI. 75